July 7th was a busy day in Syria for US troops and their drone operators.
Targeting ISIS leader Usamah al-Muhajir as he rode a motorcycle along the Aleppo region, the three MQ-9 Reaper drones found themselves being frequently engaged by Russian military jets over two hours. Despite usually operating in the eastern part of Syria, Usamah was known to be in the area when the drones began their hunt for him.
Given the Russian aggression in this situation, there is no doubt that there is cooperation between Russia and ISIS, as was hypothesized at the start of the Russian-Ukraine conflict. Russians are now happy to come after the US following our assistance with arming Ukraine throughout their conflict.
Add in their relationship in China, and it is a recipe for disaster.
Thankfully, with the success of their mission came news that there were no civilian deaths in the incident, despite the best efforts of the Russians.
For three days before Usamah’s death, the Russians were seen provoking and attempting to bait the drones into a full-scale conflict. Their unsafe passes, fuel dumps, flare dispersals, and aggression poses a severe risk to the drones themselves. Not to mention the people on the ground.
Should one of these drones malfunction, it could cause a big problem for anyone in the area, especially if the ordinance on the drones is armed.
Col. Michael Andrews, Air Forces Central Command spokesman spoke to the press following the July 8th series of aggressive events that lasted just over an hour. During the Russian aggression, one SU-34 and one SU-35 performed multiple close flybys to the drones and proceeded to dump flares directly into the MQ-9.
For Friday, the drones were extensively armed according to US officials.
With Usamah confirmed to be in the area, the time to get him was a short window, but one they were anxious to close. In a statement, General Erik Kurilla, commander of U.S. Central Command said “We have made it clear that we remain committed to the defeat of ISIS throughout the region.”
Meanwhile, Rear Adm. Oleg Gurinov, head of the Russian Reconciliation Center for Syria said that Russia and Syria had been in the midst of a six-day joint training exercise and would be concluding it on July 10th. He declared the US drone missions as “systematic violations of protocols” that were put in place to avoid conflict between these two nations.
This kind of aggression from the Russians needs to be dealt with seriously and directly, but proportionate to their provocations. They want to dump flares on our drones, let’s dump flairs on them in return. Let’s make their defense systems go into overdrive. The way our military has responded thus far has been nothing short of weak.
While there is a difference between being too big to notice such aggressions and too weak to respond, President Biden’s incompetent policies have left us as a nation that others seem to think they can keep toying with. That we will sit there and take it, no matter how ignorant the attacks may be.
As other nations keep looking to the US as weakened by the conflicts in the middle east, we as a nation need to assess where we are. Countries that even five years ago wouldn’t dream of messing with the US are now happily trying to provoke us. They work with our enemies and look at us as if to ask what we intend to do about it.
With that geriatric and dementia-riddled back of bones in the White House, the answer has become simple; not a damn thing.
If we want the nation to return to its status as a real global superpower, the American people need to wake up. The years of people willing to trust the Democrats as they believe their lies blindly need to come to an end. Every time one of them is in office, it weakens us as a nation and leaves us vulnerable to attack.
Unless something changes soon, the Russians or someone else will inadvertently draw us into a real conflict. With Biden at the helm, we simply won’t be ready.
